The Latest News from Our Field

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Reclaiming Futures project is beginning to transition from the relatively secure world of foundation funding to the more arduous task of seeking multiple sources of support, but will have to find its way without the stewardship of longtime national program director Laura Nissen.

Nissen announced on June 7 that she plans to step down in May 2011 once a successor is in place, citing a desire to "concentrate on teaching and research in my role as a faculty member at the School of Social Work at Portland State University."

The ’pharming party’ may or may not be a myth, but it’s certain that high-school students are taking a lot of prescription drugs -- often without a prescription ... Drug courts are a ’top priority’ for the Justice Department, AG Holder says ... People with addictions and mental illness are big smokers, but a new study sees tax hikes as a way to get them to quit ... Big Tobacco and friends want the courts to block NYC from posting graphic antismoking warnings in stores, saying that consumers could be turned off. Isn’t that sort of the idea?

One more reason to love Philip Morris: A new study finds that U.S. made cigarettes have more toxic chemicals than those made overseas ... Arizona residents will vote in November on whether to make medical marijuana legal ... The Ohio Senate has passed a bill to allow gun-owners to bring their weapons into bars ... Moderate drinking can reduce risk of Type 2 diabetes, Dutch researchers report.

A new report from the Justice Policy Institute urges states to use "innovative and evidence-based strategies" to safely and cost-effectively reduce their prison populations. JPI "found that increasing opportunities for parole and improving parole release decisions, improving parole supervision and ensuring access to support and treatment services are cost-effective means of cutting extraneous spending while maintaining public safety."

The report is For Immediate Release: How to Safely Reduce Prison Populations and Support People Returning to Their Communities.

A new "day in the life" report from SAMHSA says that every day 508,000 adolescents aged 12-17 in the United States drink alcohol; 641,000 use illicit drugs; and more than 1 million smoke cigarettes.

Also, 563,000 adolescents used marijuana, nearly 37,000 used inhalants, 24,000 used hallucinogens, 16,000 used cocaine and 2,800 used heroin, according to A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update, which is based on 2008 data.

SAMHSA administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. calls the findings "a wake up call about the extent to which our nation’s youth engage in risky behavior by using illegal and potentially dangerous substances everyday."

I don’t know about that...

What say you, Amethyst Initiative? College students drink and drive more after they reach legal drinking age, a new study finds ... Former President George W. Bush says his journey from ne’er do well to the White House started with his decision to stop drinking ... Even notoriously frugal New Englanders are starting to hit the tobacco industry with large penalties in sick-smoker cases ... And it’s little wonder smokers get sick: a new study finds that smoking caused literally tens of thousands of genetic mutations in tissue taken from a middle-aged smoker.

Eric Morris’s always-entertaining Freakonomics blog at the New York Times this week asks what works in getting people to drink less alcohol. As usual, the economist references an impressive array of research as he weighs in on the various interventions available.

Morris’ conclusion: screening and brief intervention has the most promise, and while restrictions on alcohol advertising seems to work, it’s doubtful that serious curbs will ever be enacted.

As we report in the news today, the parent company of retailer TJ Maxx acted swiftly to remove a series of drinking games from stores shelves after a Boston Globe reporter spotted the games and contacted the company asking why games titled "Drink Like a Fish" and "Drink Til You Drop" were on display next to graduation gifts.

Anheuser-Busch and a local beer wholesaler are seeking a deal to name a new performing-arts center in Raleigh, N.C., the Bud Light Amphitheater. City officials said the $300,000 in annual fees for the naming rights would cover most of the facility’s operating expenses, but the city’s Substance Abuse Advisory Commission says the deal would send the wrong message to kids.

Are you concerned about alcohol and other drug use in Massachusetts? If so, there are several opportunities for you to learn and lead this month. Check out the free one-day advocacy and leadership trainings co-sponsored by the Association for Behavioral Healthcare (ABH) and Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery (MOAR). (The Allston training is sold out, but seats for the Pittsfield and Peabody trainings are still available.)